The Only Guacamole You Need (Recipe & Tips)

6 Ingredients | 15 Minutes | This is the only guacamole recipe you’ll ever need. Though it just uses simple ingredients, there’s a secret twist to making sure the flavors are evenly dispersed and irresistible.

There are a million guacamole recipes floating around, I know. But this is the recipe I’ve been using for over 5 years now, and my friends keep asking for the recipe. So I thought I’d share it here on the blog as well (including my long kept secret for ensuring that the flavors are evenly dispersed!)

Jump to:

• 📋 Ingredients … and how do you make guacamole better?
• 🥑 Avocado Tips
• 🧂 Three Step Process (+ Secret Tip)
• 📖 Storing Guacamole
• 📖 Recipe

📋 Ingredients … and how do you make guacamole better?

This recipe uses only six ingredients: avocado, red onions, jalapenos, lime juice, cilantro and salt. That’s it. Nothing more, nothing less. And it turns out perfect each time. But I wanted to share a couple of notes and tips here to make the perfect spicy avocado dip.

Should you use tomatoes in guacamole? It depends. I love adding fresh vine tomatoes in my guacamole in the summer. However, the rest of the year, I find that tomatoes just water down the chunkiness of my guacamole (and I like it chunky). So, if it’s summer and you have a fresh, juicy tomato? Add that right in. Otherwise, probably best to leave it out. In the words of renowned chef, Joshua McFadden. P.S. Don’t buy tomatoes in winter!

What about garlic or garlic powder? Nope, not a fan, but I can see the appeal. I like to minimize competing flavors in my guacamole (and most recipes, except Indian ones, but that’s a whole new story). But you could add them in if you love garlic.

What kind of onions are best for this recipe? I love using red onions because they bring a nice bite. However, almost any onion works. If you want that bite, go red. If you want something a bit milder, go with yellow.

How can you adjust the spice level? If you are often asking yourself what you can add to bland guacamole, this recipe is for you. I use one jalapeno per three medium sized avocados. You can use half, or leave out the seeds (they are the most potent). Alternatively, you can leave it out altogether and use red pepper flakes and adjust to your spice tolerance. If you want to kick it up a notch, use a couple more jalapenos, or Serrano peppers. I’ve even made this with habanero peppers for my beloved B, who is a spice monster.

Other variations? I love adding some cotija cheese to my guacamole occasionally. I like to char my jalapeno peppers sometimes, or even add charred corn (especially during the summer). Most Mexican flavor profiles work here – so mix it up as you like.

🥑 Avocado Tips

Good guac is all about the avocados. So, I want to share tips for picking, smashing, storing, and freezing avocados.

Buying the right avocado: At the right ripeness, the avocados are soft, but not mushy. They’re usually a darker color (except for Haas avocados), and if they’re soft like that, perfect to eat the same day. If they’re a bit harder, buy and store in a brown paper bag to make it ripen faster (or add an apple to make it ripen even faster).

Pro tip: Ideally, buy a few different stages of ripeness – this way, you can use one today to make an easy avocado toast, and save the rest for later! Make sure to remove the overly brown bits before mashing.

Storing avocados: You can throw a ripe avocado in the fridge (when uncut) for two or three days. Ready for an easy avocado toast or guac anytime.

If you cut it already, the secret is to use some lemon or lime juice (or any form of acid, like vinegar) on the open surface. Then throw it in an airtight container and put it in the fridge. That’ll prevent it from turning brown.

If you have the pit, keeping that inside helps reduce surface area and can help prevent browning too. Why, yes, if you read that and thought – wait, can I do that to guacamole? Yep! So, save that pit.

Freezing avocados: Freezing whole avocados doesn’t really work too well (they get ultra mushy). However, if you slice them into smaller chunks (say, slices or cubes) then they freeze rather well. So, the key is to wash them well, peel them, slice them into smaller chunks, and then store them in an airtight container or bag! If they are properly stored, they remain at their best quality for 3 to 6 months. So, really that’s forever.

🧂 Three Step Process (+ Secret Tip)

I know, I led with “secret tip”, so I gotta spill! I have a three step process.

First, I mash the avocados until it’s the right chunky consistency.

Slice the avocado into two halves. Twist to pull them apart. Then, carefully use the edge of a knife to dig into the pit, twist and remove. Discard the pit (or save it on the side if you need to store half an avocado). Psst, save your skins if you want to serve your guacamole in it. You’ll thank me later (and not have to pick through trash).

I don’t like slicing avocados for guacamole (because they’re needlessly slippery). Instead, I usually do a criss-cross pattern on each half. Then, I use a spoon to scoop the avocados into a bowl. Once I add the other stuff in, I use a pestle or a serving fork to mash them together. Good guacamole is all about the texture, amirite?! So, don’t over mash them!

Then, I throw the cilantro and jalapenos in a food processor along with some salt. This is my secret to the perfect, even spread of spices. I love the kick that jalapenos bring, but don’t want a bunch of jalapenos in my mouth at the same time. I love cilantro, but don’t like it when it gets stuck on the roof of my mouth. So, I pulse it. This way, it’s easier to mix in with the rest of the avocados to make the perfect, spicy, avocado dip with little effort.

No food processor? No problem. Just dice the jalapenos and cilantro really thinly. To do this, I typically slice the jalapenos in half first, and then slice each half vertically so I have four thin pieces. Then I slice into the smallest chunks I can. To chop up cilantro, I do a chiffonade, which is a fancy way of saying: roll up cilantro into a tight bunch and go to town on them.

Once that’s done, I throw them together and mix well (before I add them to the avocado) – typically using a mortar and pestle. But any bowl and the back of your spoon works. I also dice my red onions really finely. I want the crunch and the bite, but don’t want large, or uneven chunks.

Finally, I add the pulsed cilantro-jalapeno mixture and red onions to the avocados, add some more salt for good measure and then finally the lime juice and give it all good stir. That’s it. Ready to rock and roll.

📖 Storing Guacamole

Avocados oxidize when they’re exposed to air, and go from a really beautiful green to a sulky brown. Hate it when that happens too. So, how do you keep guacamole from getting brown? Well, the trick is to prevent as much of the surface from getting in touch with air as possible!

I have two tricks for this:

• Use a thin container – something tall and slim works best vs. a long, shallow container: This way, the top surface, which you’re exposing to the air is small, and acts as a natural barrier for the rest.
• Those avocado pits I asked you to save earlier? Pop them right in, and try to cover as much of the surface as you can. Then, cover it with a plastic wrap, trying to squeeze out as much of the air as possible. You might still end up with small splotches of brown, but hopefully a very small amount. Kate, over at Cookie and Kate, recommends using an onion since the sulfur from the onion helps prevent browning too!

How long does guacamole last in the fridge? If you store it properly (in an airtight manner as described here) – it will last 3 to 4 days. If some parts do go brown, you can just skim the top surface off and serve the rest.

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📖 Recipe